Canterbury Park

Current MSPT Season 8 POY Points Leader Chris Meyers Leads as 40 Players Survivor Day 1A of MSPT Canterbury Park

Day 1A of the MSPT Season Final $1,100 Main Event at Canterbury Park attracted 216 players, which surpassed the $200K GTD in a single flight. The field was a who’s who of MSPT royalty, including former champs, Player of the Year winners, and those contending for the Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 8 Player of the Year title.

After 14 levels of play, just 40 players bagged chips with 2017 MSPT Michigan State Poker Champion Chris Meyers and his stack of 278,000 leading the way.

The MSPT Canterbury Park marks the last opportunity for players to earn points on the Kimo Sabe Mezcal Player of the Year leaderboard. Chris Meyers came in with the lead (3,350 points), and he looks to hold onto it. However, Keith Heine, who sits in second place (2,967 points), isn’t going down easy as he made it through with a stack of 195,500.

Others to punch their tickets to Day 2 were Robert O’Connell (276,500), Todd Fisher (182,500), Sam Rubin (178,500), Charles Workman (168,000), two-time champ Jeremy Dresch (112,000), MSPT Season 2 Northern Lights champ Tom Stambaugh (41,000), and John “One Bullet” Morgan (41,000).

Others still in the POY race, provided they play Day 1B, include Mike Shanahan (2,700 points), Max Havlish (2,600 points), Ahmed Taleb (2,500 points), and “Big” Al Hedin (2,100).

Of course, not everyone was so lucky. Among those to fall on 1A were 2016 MSPT Michigan State Poker Champion Brett Blackwood, MSPT Season 6 Player of the Year Mark Hodge, eight-time World Series of Poker Circuit ring winner Josh Reichard, WSOP bracelet winner John Reading, 2016 MN Magazine Player of the Year Saad Ghanem, and Joe Matheson, who needs to make the money to keep his streak of cashing every MSPT season alive.

Friday was also special in that the Minnesota Poker Hall of Fame announced their 2017 inductee – MSPT founder and President Bryan Mileski. He was welcomed into the MN PHoF fraternity during the second break of the day, with John Morgan doing the honors on the microphone. You can read more about Mileski’s induction by clicking here.

Day 1B, which kicks off at 4 p.m. local time on Saturday, will offer players another opportunity to play. Someone who’ll be in action is legendary poker Twitter czar Kevin Mathers, better known to the community as Kevmath. He flew up from Atlanta on Friday to play in his first-ever MSPT event. Rest assured we’ll be keeping a close eye on his progress.

Be sure to join us tomorrow as we bring you all the action and eliminations straight from the floor of the latest MSPT Canterbury Park!

End-of-Day 1A Chip Counts

Five More Hands

The tournament staff just announced the remaining players will play five more hands before bagging and tagging for the night. Stay tuned for a list of survivors with chip counts as well as a full recap fo the Day 1A action.

MSPT Canterbury Park Regional Rematch

Paul Cross, who back in August topped a field of 1,169 entries (the biggest poker tournament in Minnesota history) to win the MSPT Canterbury Park Regional Event for $61,911. The man he beat heads-up for the title, Keith Heine, who took home $37,988 for finishing runner-up.

As fate would have it, Heine just got some revenge.

It happened when Cross raised to 5,000 from early position and Heine called from the small blind. Brian Berthiaume came along from the big and three players saw a flop of .

Two checks saw Cross continue for 10,000, only Heine called, and the dealer burned and turned the .

Heine check-called a bet of 28,000 and then moved all in on the river. Cross had roughly 30,000 back and snap-called off.

Cross:
Heine:

Cross flopped top pair and rivered two pair, but the same card gave Heine a winning straight.

Keith Heine - 200,000 (125 bb)
Paul Cross - Busted

Cody Brinn Versus James Huynh

Donovan Gilbert raised from the lojack to 7,100, and was called by James Huynh in the hijack. Cody Brinn thought briefly, then gathered up four of the 5k chips, along with three 1k chips, then meticulously set them in the pot for a three-bet to 23,000. Action folded back to Huynh, who called the three-bet.

Huynh checked the flop over to Brinn, who counted out five 5k chips and two 1k chips, then again very neatly and gently placed them in the pot, a bet of 27,000. Huynh thought for a while before Brinn said, “I will show you,” which prompted an immediate fold from Huynh.

True to his word, Brinn tabled as he raked in the pot.

Cody Brinn - 160,000 (67 bb)
James Huynh - 70,000 (29 bb)

Sherry Hammers Takes Her Leave

Scott Ziebarth raised to 4,500 under the gun and Jason Seitz called from middle position. Sherry Hammers, the better half of Tom Hammers, then three-bet all in for 35,700 from the cutoff. Ziebarth called and Seitz gave it some thought before folding what he later claimed to be pocket jacks.

Ziebarth:
Hammers:

Hammers had a kicker problem and it didn’t get resolved as the board ran out .

Scott Ziebarth - 185,000 (92 bb)
Sherry Hammers - Busted

Frank Cerminara Gets Caught Stealing By Ryan Tyler

Frank Cerminara raised to 7,000 from the hijack, only to be met with a three-bet shove for 12,600 from Ryan Tyler in the big blind.

“I was stealing,” a reluctant Cerminara said before plunking in calling chips.

Cerminara:
Tyler:

Cerminara’s hand was live, but the flop gave Tyler a huge lead with trip kings.

The turn gave Cerminara some hope with a gutshot, but the river gave Tyler the late night double.

Frank Cerminara - 60,000 (30 bb)
Ryan Tyler - 28,000 (14 bb)

Big Slick Does the Trick for Todd Fisher

After Mark Jaroslawski had three-bet to 20,000, Todd Fisher four-bet jammed. Jaroslawski called off and it was off to the races.

Jaroslawski:
Fisher:

Jaroslawski got it in good, but he fell behind on the flop. The turn was no help to Jaroslawski, and he made a beeline to the door after the completed the board on the river.

Todd Fisher - 190,000 (95 bb)
Mark Jaroslawski - Busted

Last Break Of The Night

Players are on their last ten-minute break of the evening.

Jeremy Dresch Drops A Six-Figure Hammer On Tyler Caspers

Jeremy Dresch raised to 3,500 from the lojack, and got three-bet by Tyler Caspers in the cutoff to 9,200. Dresch called, and the two saw a flop.

Dresch checked, and Caspers bet 11,500. Dresch called.

Dresch checked the turn, and Caspers bet again, this time 22,000. Dresch made the call.

On the river, Dresch softly announced “All in,” for around 105,000. Caspers, who had Dresch covered, spent some time in the tank.

After a few minutes, Caspers flicked his hand in the muck, shipping the massive pot to Dresch.

Jeremy Dresch - 190,000 (119 bb)
Tyler Caspers - 120,000 (75 bb)